As usual, Ezra had been confined to his office for most of the day, stacks of paperwork and documents littering his desk until no part of it could be seen with all the scattered work. On top of that, it was that time of month when newly recruited wizards start to be examined for a higher ranking. Who was responsible to oversee this examination? A guild's authorities, of course. Or in this case, Ezra. It was tiring, but equally exciting to see young blood grow as wizards, or more specifically, Haru Reyold. The young man had only just recently joined the reformed Fairy Tail, and was growing stronger just as quickly. But what sort of examination was fitting for a boy of such spirit?

Ezra peered blankly down to stack of complaints from the townspeople (which they regularly received and were expected to solve), shuffling through them like a banker and cash, before pausing in seeing one particular document that neared perfect for the collected but feisty Haru. The older man would grin as he would read the complaint, signing it in his name folding it neatly. Ezra would raise from his desk, exit his office, and approach the nearest idle member he spotted. He would then hand them the letter hastily, "Take this to Haru and tell 'im it has to be done by today, you hear? Go on, now!" he pushed him excitedly. Oh, how would the young Haru do?

The Complaint:

Dear Fairy Tail,

My name's Ralph McDonald, and I'm a merchant that often stops by your town to sell my goods!But lately, the East Forest, the woods where I travel to get here, doesn't seem that safe anymore. I've been hearing loud noises, too strange for a forest, my goods being stolen or eaten when I'm asleep, and sometimes I get the weird feeling I'm being watched! I won't be coming back to this town until this is resolved!

Best wishes,Ralph

In short, investigate the East Forest, find out what's been causing all this trouble, and resolve the issue within a day. You may spawn enemies, thoroughly investigate any area within the East Forest, and use this for plot as you see fit.

Haru sat at the table enjoying his lunch, which consisted mostly of his favorite. Vegetables and sushi; but he also had a hot dog just to have one. He'd put so many onions and so much relish on it; it was almost too good to be true. Just then, a guildmate walked up and looked at it. Haru gave him a look that said don't even think about it...., but nodded to him with his usual serious expression.

"Hey man, Ezra told me to give you this." as he held out a sealed job request. Unfolding it as he gave the man a dap up, he read it and got curious. But then remembered, he was up for B-class now these past few weeks....this was it! Smiling to himself he would fold the letter and stand up, Rose who was nearby drinking a milkshake as usual flicked her ears as the Exceed watched him.

"What's up?" she then read through it and realized what it was. "Oho, looks like you get to go on a little hiking trip into the woods to prove you're as competent as the rest of the B-class mages out there." with her paw she pointed out that the task was marked for B+ ranked mages as Haru nodded solemnly. With a nod of her own, the two set out, Haru awkwardly carrying a huge silver tray of sushi. Stopping with the tray, he called over to a guildmate.

"Yo man, tell Ezra I'm headed out on that job request." with a smile the guildmate replied that he was already taking jobs straight from the aces. "Nah...I think this is some kinda test or something." he said in his usual serious tone. With that the two would nod at one another as Haru set out the front doors of the guild. Moving through the outdoor area and the main gate he would head toward the road in town that headed toward the forest. It was packed at first, as many people went to and fro in it. But once he got into the woods, most people waited on it's outskirts and there were only a few caravans he passed. Eventually, he took the route the guy took, as the sun began to drop a little. Dusk was beautiful in the springtime especially hanging over a magical forest like this one. East Forest and Spooky Forest, Fiore's two magical woodlands; with the rest seeming mundane in comparison. He finished the huge tray of sushi he was still carrying and tossed it, blasting it into ashes fancily so as not to litter before it hit the ground. Causing Rose to smile a bit; as Haru let out at 'what!', Igneel had mentally drilled respect for animals and nature into him.

Moving through the woods, he heard the distinct sound of some kind of roar as his eyes went wide. Rose's ears went up as the two of them looked at one another as she swooped him up, exploding forward into Max Speed with her Aera magic and going up higher to get a better view. As they hung there for awhile, Haru spotted something so large it was knocking trees out of the way. Flying downward at it; he realized it was see through; and glowing a bit. Some kind of spirit. It was literally chasing a young guy and girl as it seemed to be able to knock trees out of the way with a single movement. It was carrying a large scythe. What in the world...it couldn't be. Flying downward at the thing, Haru would yell out at it as he let out a single punch that sent a stream of flames at it's back. Howling out in pain as the flames splashed onto it, Haru would pull up in front of it mid-air, carried by Rose. It's face was a literal skeleton underneath the hooded visage. Although he could see through it, it was colored dark like a shadow. Black even.

"Mortal magic....that can harm me?" it crackled into the air and shook Haru to the soul as a distinct look overtook Haru, some kind of fear that he'd never felt before. As the thing charged him, Haru braced for impact and fired up his hands; both of them erupting into flames as the thing passed through him harmlessly with a ghastly wail. The air itself seemed to speak. "Igneel has taken on another.....that's very interesting. Meet me where the heavens and mankind meet, and we shall speak at length young mage.....be very careful with that magic that you wield. It can bring calamity, or hope." the word "hope" echoed into the air with a large base booming as that's all that was said.

The scene would cut down to a guy who was literally hiding behind a tree; breathing hard as hell and trying to keep quiet. He rolled through the footage he'd just taken. This was it, the Grim Reaper. It did exist. A superpowerful spirit that transcended time itself. As he stood up to make a run for it, a branch snapped as Haru and Rose both heard it with their superhuman hearing. As he all out ran, he was quickly tackled in the back as Haru dove from Rose mid-air onto him; wrestling the camera out of his hand Haru would look down at the teenager around his age.

"Sorry man, official Fairy Tail business." as the hand holding the camera engulfed into flames; it burnt to ashes with an electrical crackle as the dust fell from Haru's hands as the flames went out.

"Noooooooooo! I'm just doing my job man! I work for the College of Alchemy in Bellum!!! We're researching the Grim Reaper and leads over like thousands of years on Death himself. I could've proved that he existed!!!" he screamed at Haru as in return he only got a shrug and explanation.

"Hm.....now THAT is just a fairy tale." who was he kidding. The Grim Reaper? Seriously? Next Santa Claus would come bolting out of the Celestial Spirit Realm. As the guy got Haru's corny joke about what guild he was from. He rolled his eyes.

"Thanks for nothing you dumb motherfucker." he growled as Haru's eyes narrowed.

"HEY, don't forget you were the one stalking ME, bitch!!!" he yelled as the man walked away giving him the finger. Scowling, Haru sighed and shook his head. He couldn't stand the nation that guy was from anyway, a bunch of supremacists. Second class citizens were made out of those in Bellum who didn't have magic. There, mages were the majority by a gigantic number in the millions. Here in Fiore; mages weren't born that much and normal humans outnumbered them 100 to 1. They were the extreme minority here.

"The College is researching into matters of death itself...what the heck are those Alchemists up too anyway." Rose said as she floated there with her wings out with a paw to her face in thought. "Whatever it is...it doesn't sound good." with a nod, Haru would agree. Maybe he'd warn the spirit of death....HA, helping the Grim Reaper. Well, it was just another Sunday to him. "Maybe he meant the Sky Tower earlier....." Rose mused to herself. Nodding to one another, they decided to think it over after she had another milkshake, and Haru had more sushi. When they got back, he would find Ezra personally.

"It was a spirit....a bigass one. Might've even been the Grim Reaper. But who knows." whether or not Ezra believed him was second in his mind at this point. He could only tell the truth and hope for the best after all like everyone else. With a nod to him, he'd walk off and start ordering ridiculous amounts of corn on the cob and sushi to his table.